Friday, December 28, 2012

Happy New Year!!! Now that Christmas has passed I can
share these cute bracelets I made as gifts. They are made with a DIY
covered button kit, fabric, and a sterling silver bracelet base. I
found some cute fabric to match the personalities of my girls. One has
loved outer space forever and the other loves bright colors. I bought
1/8 of a yard of fabric, more than I could ever use but they would not sell me less at the store.

The button kit comes with a paper template and you cut
the fabric out using the template on a part of the fabric that you
like. Take the fabric put it into the button maker (a plastic cup thing
that is part of the kit) put the rounded part of the button on top of
the fabric.

Remove the button shank with a pair of pliers from the
button back (this can be done by pinching the shank with a pair of pliers and it will remove fairly easy, or you could cut it off with wire cutters) and then tuck the fabric into the back of the button, and
place the button back on top of the fabric that has been tucked in.

I forgot to remove the button shank on this one but I removed it with a pair of needle nose pliers after I made this button.

Use the little pushing tool (see blue object in photo) the button back will crimp
to the front making a finished button.

Here is a finished button. Now repeat until you have enough for your project.I coated my buttons with diamond glaze to water proof them and help keep them clean. I then glued the buttons to the sterling silver bracelet base, the 3/4 inch buttons fit perfect. I used E-6000 glue which is great for projects like this.

Bright colors and outer space, two fun looks from different fabrics.

The above photo shows the back of the finished button. These are really cute and would be a fun addition to an outfit. I made earring by just attaching an earring back to the button using E-6000 glue.

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

I
saw a really cute bracelet on Pinterest made out of a baseball, and my
oldest daughter loves softball so I decide to give it a try. I bought a
practice softball at Target's it was under $5.00 bucks. I really liked
that it was half pink and half yellow as I knew it would make a great
reversible bracelet. It was sized more to the size of a baseball which
is perfect as I feel a real softball would have been to large. This
ball was made out of a vinyl of sorts and not leather.

I was able to use sissors to cut apart the stitching and carefully take the ball apart. I was left with two pieces.

These are the two pieces of the ball once it was taken apart. Line them up back to back and then stitch using red embroidery thread. I added a jump ring and lobster claw in the middle of each side to finish. I used a Mr. Clean scrub pad to remove as much of the writing as I could. I think it is cute how it is reversible, and for about $6.00 worth of total supplies I think it will be a fun piece for my teen daughter.